


'Tis the Season

by 40 (orphan_account)



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Christmas, Gen, M/M, matoba low-key doesn't know what christmas is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 17:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8999317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/40
Summary: Matoba's first Christmas with Natsume and Natori





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [new beginnings](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6846391) by [chidorinnn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chidorinnn/pseuds/chidorinnn). 
  * Inspired by [Different Placements](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6938098) by [ncfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ncfan/pseuds/ncfan). 



> I read the Domestic Exorcists and was really stuck on the AU and really wanted to write something sort of Christmassy.

 

Seiji wasn’t a fan of the city.

It was a lot busier than he was used to with the constant stream of traffic right outside the bedroom window. There were always people around, even in the building where they lived. Seiji was used to that aspect of the city considering back at home – at the Matoba compound, this much smaller room in the city was his _home_ now – there were always people. Visitors came and went irregularly and frequently enough for Seiji to become a lot less curious about it by the time he left.

It was quieter here too.

Shuuichi’s apartment was crammed with wards that Takashi had avoided skittishly at first but had over time it seemed his eyes had ceased skirting around them. Of course the wards were not the only reason that it was quiet living in the city.

Ayakashi seemed as cautious of the city as Seiji, preferring the peace of less inhabited areas except in special circumstances of inquisitiveness or duty. Or grudges. Seiji supposed he was relieved that there appeared to be far fewer grudges here in the city. Though that only made him feel a bit pettier when it came to conventions of the city.

The shop windows were all dressed extravagantly. The shoppers milling around were all dressed in what Shuuichi had explained with a shrug as, ‘fashion’. The bow slung over the top of Seiji’s gakuran was apparently not fashion as Shuuichi had mumbled once and the eyes of curious passers-by told him. Yet red trimmed with white fluff appeared to be the fashion in winter as highlighted by yet another of the shop windows that Takashi stopped to peer into.

Takashi read the characters clumsily and then looked up at Seiji with his unasked question clear on his countenance. “Christmas.”

“That’s right,” Seiji said blithely. And then, because he wasn’t well versed with the holiday he glanced at the unread characters and replied, “Merry Christmas.”

Takashi, apparently not satisfied with Seiji’s admitted knowledge on the subject huffed to himself quietly. He had remained a reserved child for as long as Seiji had known him but seeing him so openly frustrated made Seiji smile. To be this trusted was new.

At home Seiji couldn’t deny how relaxing it felt to be in the tiny apartment.

Takashi hadn’t mentioned the ayakashi that had been lurking in the small alley between this building and the next. There might have been more than one of them, rodent-like and the size of Seiji’s fist but more alarmingly dressed in the odd red and white that had been creeping over the city this month. But Takashi hadn’t mentioned them so Seiji wasn’t going to mention them either. 

 

Shuuichi was late.

Takashi’s hands were methodical and delicate as they worked to chop chinese cabbage. Seiji had been told firmly to chop the onion and Takashi had handed him some carrots as an afterthought.  

“It will still be tasty,” Takashi assured Seiji. He frowned lightly as he nudged at the sliced pork in the pan with the spatula they had bought on the day after they moved in.

“Of course it will,” Seiji smiled. “Can we expect to soon be eating meals that you cooked all on your own?”

Takashi hesitated before glancing up at Seiji timidly. “Maybe.”

 

Seiji never bothered much with the telephone. He might receive a terse call from home but he didn’t often have a reason to answer it. He was sort of hoping for a reason to answer the telephone if just to dull the edge encroaching at the edges of his consciousness.

Takashi was already in his pyjamas and yawning behind his hands on the sofa next to Seiji, his eyelids getting heavier and less focused as the news reader went on. There was nothing interesting enough to keep Seiji’s attention even at the most superficial level but just in case it was better to be informed.

A scrape and jangle at the door and after a moment Seiji realised what this meant. He wasn’t dying or anything. Shuuichi had finally come home. Takashi crawled onto his knees to crane his neck and see Shuuichi’s entrance. Seiji waited until the puffing and rustling at the entry ceased.

“I could use some help,” Shuuichi said airily.

Takashi, suddenly energetic, scurried over to lighten Shuuichi’s load. Seiji decided it might be better to leave them to it. Exhaustion had settled heavily into his bones and it wasn’t as though he could jump up from the softness of the sofa cushions to help.

He hadn’t been worried. He wasn’t annoyed either because Shuuichi’s schedule was easily altered by the requirement of re-filming scenes or meetings running long or even something as inconsequential as greeting seniors. Or something. Seiji didn’t care to ask.

“Seiji-san, look!” Takashi exclaimed, holding up a square, white box. After a moment of Seiji’s expression remaining the same Takashi added, “Cake!”

“What a treat.”

Takashi dithered for a moment before rushing back to Shuuichi to ask a quiet question. Surely Seiji’s tone could not have been _that_ insincere.

Takashi was resolved as he went to the kitchen, casting glanced as Seiji carefully as he went. Seiji sighed and supposed it didn’t matter much that Takashi had already brushed his teeth. It would only take a few minutes to brush them again. It seemed to be a given that he was going to stay up late tonight.

Shuuichi collapsed into Takashi’s long vacated seat and pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes with a drawn-out sigh.

“Takashi-kun cooked,” Seiji said because it sounded a lot less accusatory than what he wanted to say.

“Oh. Was it good?”

“I’m sure he will still let you have some if you want to find out.”

“Sorry,” Shuuichi said. His eyes were blearily red but the sharp scent of alcohol didn’t linger.  Seiji didn’t let himself get close enough to properly confirm it. “There were… girls.”

“Girls?”

“Well, you know, it’s a bit lonely seeing couples everywhere so most of the singles at the agency decided to do something together and I was one of the ones kidnapped by them.”

“Kidnapped,” Seiji repeated dryly.

Shuuichi blinked a few times and paused as though the situation had never seemed so stupid until that moment. “Well they wouldn’t take no for an answer. They said I wasn’t being a supportive colleague if I didn’t go with them. And then they started accusing me of hiding a girlfriend at home and saying they would tell all their media contacts about it.”

Seiji felt his lip curl slowly. “And you _didn’t_ correct them to say you were hiding two young boys at home?”

Shuuichi scoffed. He threw a sidelong look at Seiji despite the heat in his face. “You’re not that young.”

Seiji’s expression felt a lot more agreeable now. Shuuichi was the one who was off-balance, the one who was glad for Takashi’s slow but sure footsteps with the rattling of plates on the tray he was concentrating on.

“Merry Christmas,” Takashi said when he was finally before them, holding the tray out for the two men to take a small, chipped plate with a slice of cake.

“Merry Christmas, Takashi-kun,” Shuuichi grinned with enough sparkle to make Seiji’s eyes roll.

 

When Takashi was in bed, Shuuichi held up some of the bags he had managed to distract the small boy’s eyes from. Seiji raised an eyebrow and swept his hair from his face as he watched Shuuichi place items around his crossed legs on the floor. He quietly revealed folded sheets of wrapping paper, a wrapped package that was the size and shape of a ream of A4 paper, a pair of scissors, a roll of sticky tape, three scarves, three hats, three pairs of gloves, a handful of capsule toys from the convenience store down the street, a deflated looking stuffed cat, and a red jumper that could only have been for Takashi.

“What is all this?” Seiji asked.

“Christmas presents,” Shuuichi smiled. “I left them at the agency offices and went back to get them when they finally let me leave the Izakaya.” 

“Humour me for a moment,” Seiji requested with a small smile of his own, “Why did you buy so much?”

Shuuichi flushed, pushed his glasses up his nose and looked around at the assortment of objects. “It’s so we can tell Takashi that Santa came.”

Only vaguely aware of what a Santa was, Seiji wondered what the point would be in telling Takashi that the strange foreign man had visited. He didn’t say as much to Shuuichi seeing as it seemed there was a difference in knowledge on the subject. There was no need to let Shuuichi feel superior. He glanced away and said, “This one is already wrapped.”

“Ah,” Shuuichi said, fiddling with his glasses and his fingers glancing from the edges of the parcel. “Yes, it is. You can open it now if you’d like.”

“Me?”

Shuuichi lifted it up and the red paper crinkled beneath his fingers. Seiji took it and weighed it in his hands before he tore at the paper. The rip was a long, loud sound that made Shuuichi flinch. Seiji bit back his smirk and moved his fingers more quickly.

“It’s a mirror.”

“Um, yes.”

The mirror was fifteen centimetres in diameter with a frame and handle that were shiny black plastic. Shuuichi’s smile looked a bit odd so Seiji turned the mirror over in his hand. White lines traced out the face of a cat.

“This is… It’s very nice, thank you,” Seiji said politely.

“Even if you don’t like it, I thought it could be useful. You could use it for an exorcism if you wanted.”

Seiji doubted the mirror would leave the apartment. He shook his head and smiled as warmly as he could, ignoring the brief moment of Shuuichi’s expression souring. “I like it very much. It is a very thoughtful gift, Shuuichi-san. Really, thank you very much.”

“There’s more,” Shuuichi muttered. The black lizard scuttled up Shuuichi’s jaw and came to settle across the bridge of his nose.

Seiji nodded and placed the mirror at his side. A black note book was next. The cover was soft and he flipped quickly through the blank pages while Shuuichi mumbled something about taking notes. There were no comments about the box of chocolates that completed the gift. The lizard had disappeared from sight once more.  

“Thank you,” Seiji said, again because he had manners.

Shuuichi nodded quietly and busied himself with the unwrapped presents on the floor.

Seiji had never received chocolates before. He knew this was a completely different thing to Valentine’s Day where the ending of the school year brought the courage people needed to confess. Girls swapping recipes and co-ordinating their gifts for friends and romantic interests alike. He had always wondered whether knowing the efforts that went into the gifts laid any pressure on the boys come White Day. It might have been a blessing to have never have had to worry about another person’s feelings, having them burden or elate him, having to give a serious reply…

It would have been nice to be able to prepare himself to think nothing of the chocolates. He didn’t often eat sweets at home and Shuuichi didn’t seem inclined to buy sweets unless he wanted to treat Takashi. Of course Shuuichi had probably received dozens of chocolates during his time in school, most of them probably not even obligatory, so he thought nothing of buying some for another person. After a certain amount of gifts with feelings in them, a person must numb to what the sender of the gift had been thinking when they gave them.

The tape sealing the box ripped part of one of the snowflakes on the cover as he opened it. The chocolate smelled delicious. It was late and Seiji didn’t like to snack between meals, or in the middle of the night for that matter, but he supposed he had already eaten some cake.

It was bitter. Dark chocolate that melted slowly on Seiji’s tongue.

“It’s tasty.”

Shuuichi looked up over his glasses and pushed them up his nose. “I’m glad you like it.”

“Would you like some?” Seiji said as he held the box out. Shuuichi hesitated and Seiji held out the box more insistently. He delicately picked up a chocolate and chewed it quickly. “It’s good.”

“Aren’t they?”

 

 

The next morning, after the presents were wrapped and Seiji had fought for his sleep, he was woken by Takashi’s small hands shaking his shoulders. He was thankful that he managed to contain his half-wakeful surprise and hadn’t walloped the boy for no reason. He sat up, feeling groggy and rubbing at the dry tackiness of his eyes.

“Good morning, Takashi-kun.”

“Good morning, Seiji-san,” Takashi said. He was already dressed as he knelt beside Seiji, even wearing his hat and scarf with his coat. He explained without needing to be asked. “Shuuichi-san is taking me out to buy some food to bring back. He said we should buy chicken, but I wanted to make sure that you wanted to eat that too. If not, I will tell Shuuichi-san we should get something else.”

Having only just woken up, Seiji didn’t have a particular opinion about what anybody should buy. He didn’t dislike chicken, he supposed it was a bit cheaper than beef so it was not as though he was waking up to the news that Shuuichi was trying to bankrupt them. He didn’t mind what they bought. He said, “Chicken is fine, Takashi-kun. Make sure you come back quickly because I don’t want to have to look after you when you are ill.”

Takashi nodded earnestly and dashed from the room, even calling out to Shuuichi that chicken would be fine. It was not until the front door had clicked shut behind the two of them that Seiji noticed the mess that had been left behind. Takashi and Shuuichi had kindly left their futons in messy heaps on the floor and there were stray socks and jumpers strewn about. Seiji tidied everything away, taking his time and trying hard not to be annoyed that he had to be the one to clear everything away.

But when the pair returned, a bucket of fried chicken in hand, Seiji couldn’t scold either of them – he couldn’t even make a passive-aggressive remark because Takashi’s face was bright with glee. He rushed to the kitchen to fetch them plates and Shuuichi deposited the chicken on the kotatsu with a sigh.

“Takashi-kun has already donated some of our meal to some ayakashi on the way back.”

“Donated?”

Shuuichi rolled his eyes as he sat down on the floor. He passed Seiji a carton of milk and retrieved cartons for himself and Takashi. He speared his straw through the foil seal on his own carton. “There were some little youkai that looked a bit like mice and they were singing a song. Takashi-kun asked them if they were hungry and offered them some of the chicken.”

“Why does he like them so much?” Seiji asked quietly. “Aren’t they the reason he had been shunted around so much with nowhere to stay?”

“Maybe he is just full of Christmas spirit,” Shuuichi grumbled around his straw. He seemed to deflate a little as he added, “But I didn’t have the heart to tell him off for it.”

The ayakashi that Shuuichi described sounded like the ones that Takashi had ignored so determinedly the day before and Seiji wondered whether that had anything to do with him. It was silly to concentrate on things like that, but a boy whose life was only made worse by the fact that he could see youkai surely shouldn’t have been so keen to treat them kindly. Yet all it took was a song for Takashi to become generous. Seiji was sure the ayakashi had been singing and chattering as they scurried around in their little outfits of red and white, so it can’t have been too different today.

Seiji didn’t have the heart – or maybe he didn’t want to disappoint himself by finding out that he was seen less kindly that Shuuichi – to ask about the disparity between today and the day before. Takashi happily nibbled at chicken and patiently waited to be told when to unwrap his presents.

And it didn’t matter so much when Takashi was requesting that all three of them wear their matching hats and scarves even though they were indoors and the heating was on.

 

 

 


End file.
